Police host seminar for security and business owners
By Lethbridge Herald on January 8, 2026.
Alexandra Noad
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
With theft and other crimes affecting many businesses in the downtown core, the Downtown Policing Unit of Lethbridge Police Service hosted an information seminar yesterday for security personnel, loss prevention officers and business owners to help them understand their rights when dealing with criminal activity.
The most common crimes businesses deal with are theft and mischief, which includes various things such as bothering customers, loitering or refusing to leave.
Security and business owners have the right to perform a citizen’s arrest, if they are comfortable with doing so, as long as they are the firsthand witness to the crime being committed.
Firsthand witness includes seeing the crime in person as well as on CCTV footage.
Those who are performing a citizen’s arrest are under the same guidelines as police which include stating who you are and why they are under arrest, using only the appropriate amount of force necessary and getting the subject into the care of police as soon as possible which involves calling emergency services to inform them of the situation.
While the subject is under arrest, the person who has ordered the citizen’s arrest is responsible for the safety of the subject. They are also required to have a full account of the actions leading to, during and following the arrest while the subject is under their watch.
If these guidelines are not met the person who performed is responsible and could face criminal action against them.
In many circumstances, placing a citizen’s arrest could cause potential harm to the person performing it, in which case the police highly recommend being a professional witness to help assist them in catching those committing the crime.
When it comes to reporting a crime every detail matters, including photos of the subject, a detail description of what they were wearing, identifying features and where the person was headed.
Police also recommend using a notepad to write the incident in a notebook to help retain as much information as possible to help with the reporting process.
Those who attended the seminar were reassured that they should never feel bad for calling the police, even if the crime seems small, because after enough re-offences of petty crimes such as mischief and trespassing the person will end up serving jail time.
The seminar also included an overview on the drug scene in Lethbridge, which provided information on the most common drugs being used in the city and how it affects the users.
The day concluded with discussions on different scenarios which could possibly take place to ensure participants understood their rights when it comes to dealing with criminal activity.
The Downtown Policing Unit plans to host another seminar in the summertime.
18-17
Well done! A little late . . . would have been better 5 years ago, but better late than never!
Personally, my citizens arrests for the most part, happened after I was assaulted at work or once just walking downtown to get my mail . . . I will warn those who are thinking of using this legal tool that many of the street people have weapons . . . such as knifes, chains, the occassional matchete, and rarely BB/pellet guns.
If you are not trained in restraining offenders when affecting a citizens arrest, or reading the person and the threat level, it would be adviseable not to employ this method.
Police cannot always respond immediately due to the possibility of high crime days, but will get there ASAP, but that can be 20-30 minutes in some cases . . . I speak from recent experiences on response times and you must be prepared to be able to be secure for that amount of time!
For the most part . . . they will be there within 10 minutes, but when you are in the middle of a wild ride trying to protect yourself while restraining the offender, 3 minutes is a very long time!
Some drugs cause the offenders to have ‘super’ strength and I have watched 4-5 well trained officers struggling to restrain the offender, one had a knife trying to slash them in one case!
The other frustrating part: when you call police (not conducting a citizens arrest) often police do not arrive in time to speak with the offender and/or charge them and rarely in those cases do they find them! That is the most frustrating part I have personally had to deal with while protecting our property downtown! When they are not charged, there is no deterent for them to not to it again and as we have seen, they become more brazen, increasing their crimes and violence in doing so, because they think they will get away with it . . . that is partly due to the feds handcuffing the prosecutors so when police charge someone, they often chuck the charges out . . . but the tide is turning, because people across the country have been demanding that more are charged. The people have had enough!!! At least some!!!
I am not blaming police, they are very busy, often running from one complaint to the next and the street people often will change their clothing quickly after they know they are being looked for by police . . . I have witnessed this, but there are other issues as well!
Another serious issue . . . never assume they are alone, and always watch your back, especially if you are conducting a citizen’s arrest. Often they have another person or persons nearby! In one case while waiting for police to arrive with one offender restrained on the ground, I saw someone coming towards me with large piece of wood, until I yelled out to him to move along and police were coming . . . I was a uniformed guard on duty! So they didn’t respect guards and often do not . . . so do you think they will respect you as a private citizen? Think about it!!!
And I would note . . . the seminar was for security personnel, loss prevention officers, who have all been trained in management of agressive behaviour (MOAB) and/or Non-Violent Crisis Intervention as well as physical training in those areas and the business owners, who hire them or are interested in the information.
Some downtown business owners went further and got involved with committees to deal with the issues and sit on the Police Commission, to help bring changes! Speaking out to your politicians, committees, and those who can bring real changes is very beneficial and effective if you do so . . . most do not, saying we can’t do anything! I have proven even one person can bring change!
Being aware of the situation is important and I am happy there is finally an acknowledgement there are issues to be dealt with, and plans in place to deal with those situations. Most of the issues now are very much law enforcement issues that will require enforcing laws in an effort to take back our streets from the criminals! More than once police have stated that encampment residents in this city commit 60-70% of the crimes in those areas . . . So . . . what are we doing about it!?!?
I would applaud LPS for the great job they have done in the last couple of months downtown in hotspot areas including Galt Gardens . . . there has been a considerable difference noted! Thank you!
I would not suggest the average citizen run around making citizens arrests, or you may end up being a victim of assault, or you could be charged for use of excessive force or illegal detainment!
You must have knowledge which laws you can use in a citizens arrest, and there are some grey areas . . . better to leave it to police or those trained in such matters!
I am hoping this year we will see great changes downtown and show the event planners they can once again return to Galt Gardens as a venue!
you have provided a fair and useful insight, and useful caution. well shared.